Busy Bodies (Chocolate Flava 4)

“Why do you think I only had you?” She laughed. “I wanted to give you everything and couldn’t imagine sharing the love I have for you with someone else.” She wiped her daughter’s tears away.

Dasia spent the next hour telling her mother how she felt about Stephen and how things had changed with them.

“Look, honey, if you love your man, you have to keep him happy. That’s first and foremost. The kids will fall into place. I’m not that far away, and I can always keep the kids; that’s no problem. But the problem is, you’ve let yourself go.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look at you.” Her mother led her to a mirror. “You don’t comb your hair and the sweats you always wear look like they stink.” She looked at her. “What happened to the proud woman I raised? This isn’t you, sweetheart.”

Dasia looked at herself in the mirror and didn’t like what she saw. She was once known as the sexiest anchor on television and ratings had spiked because of it. Now, she didn’t know who she was.

“Now, get yourself together, do what you have to do, and keep your man.”

Dasia’s mother packed up her grandchildren for an overnight stay and left her daughter alone to get herself together. Dasia knew she was still the woman Stephen craved and she would show him.

Over the next three hours, Dasia pampered herself and picked up a few things from the mall. She knew Stephen would question the cost of her purchases but, in the end, he would be glad she’d bought them.

Driving home, she thought about Stephen and called him. “Hi, babe, I was just thinking about you.”

“Really?” he spoke dryly. “Haven’t heard that in a while.”

“I know,” she admitted. “What you doing?”

“Paperwork. What about you?”

“Just out. Had to pick up a few things. You in tonight?”

“For the most part, yes, but I’m working late.”

“Really? Why?”

“Just a lot of work.” A pregnant pause filled the air. “I gotta go.” He hung up the phone.

She could tell he was fed up and she couldn’t let things get any worse than they were. She bopped inside the house with a clear plan and all of her purchases in tow. After taking a shower, Dasia slid into the new navy push-up bra and matching high-cut bikinis she’d bought from Victoria’s Secret. Looking at herself in the mirror, she couldn’t believe what she saw. Although a little curvier, her body wasn’t as bad as she’d thought it was. Yes, she had a few stretch marks here and there, and she wasn’t as toned as she was before, but she still looked good.

She dressed in a mid-thigh–length, brown plaid skirt and tan silk blouse. The color contrast made her smile as it accentuated her skin color. Putting on her makeup, she looked in the mirror and realized that the woman who stood before her was someone she missed. That same person was still a mom but she was also still a wife, and was ready to be one again. Stepping into her stilettos, she went to reclaim her man.

• • •

“Hi. I’m looking for officer Stephen Anderson,” Dasia said, walking into the precinct.

“What business do you have with him?” a female officer asked, glaring at her.

“The business a wife would have with her husband,” Dasia told her, daring her to get crazy.

The woman pointed toward his office and Dasia walked ahead.

Standing at his door, she watched her husband dutifully at work. He looked so handsome. Quietly, she stepped into the small room and closed the door.

“Hey, you,” she purred.

He looked up. “Whoa!” Stephen was shocked.

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Turning toward the door, Dasia locked it and then looked back at her husband.

“What’s all this?” He pointed.